Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

New anti-Trump Movement Includes Nearly 400 Delegates

As the Donald Trump campaign continues to look about to go off the rails - Trump fired his campaign manager today - the unease and near hysteria in some Republican circles continues to grow. Now, as the Washington Post reports, the "Dump Trump" effort reportedly now includes over 400 of the delegates for the upcoming GOP convention. I have little pity for those who want to stage a coup at the convention since over the years they have fostered the atmosphere in which Trump has thrived. Indeed, they made racism, homophobia and misogyny platforms of the party even though they used dog whistle messaging. Trump has merely taken their message from out of the smoke screens. Here are Post highlights on the new effort to stop the GOP's Frankenstein monster:

A
campaign to stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican presidential nominee
has the support of nearly 400 delegates to the GOP’s convention next month,
according to organizers, quickly transforming what began as an idea tossed
around on social media into a force that could derail a national campaign.

While organizers
concede their plan could worsen internal party strife, they believe they are
responding to deep-rooted concerns among conservatives about Trump, who is
suffering from declining poll numbers after weeks of missteps and embarrassing
headlines.

“Short-term, yes,
there’s going to be chaos,” said Kendal Unruh, a co-founder of the group, Free
the Delegates. “Long-term this saves the party and we win the election. Everything
has to go through birthing pains to birth something great. We’re going to go
through the trauma of the birthing pains, but the reward will be worth it.”

Unruh, of Colorado,
said her cause is winning support from “the non-rabble rousers. The rule-following,
churchgoing grandmas who aren’t out protesting in the streets. This is the way
they push back.”

The campaign’s growing support came amid a significant
shake-up in Trump’s campaign. On Monday, he fired his campaign manager, Corey
Lewandowski, one of his most loyal and vocal aides. The move was seen as an
urgent attempt to ease GOP concerns over the campaign’s direction.

Thomson said at least 1,000 people participated in the call.
Delegates who participated said they plan to spend this week wooing others to
the cause.

In
recent days Trump has called attempts to strip him of the party nomination
“totally illegal” and a rebuke of the millions of people who voted for him.
Over the weekend he accused former opponents Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.)
of trying to undermine his candidacy. Both men say they have nothing to do with
the new movement.

On the call Sunday
night, leaders of Free the Delegates repeatedly insisted they are not working
on behalf of any of Trump’s former opponents. They also lashed out at Chairman
Reince Priebus and other officials at the Republican National Committee who
have dismissed the delegates’ efforts as silly and a media-driven myth.

But
several delegates said they were buoyed by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.),
who told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that “it is not my job to tell
delegates what to do, what not to do, or to weigh in on things like that. They
write the rules. They make their decisions.” Said Unruh: “Paul
Ryan signed our permission slip.”

“My whole adult life I have been a loyal Republican. But this
whole experience has really opened my eyes to what some folks I previously
thought were nuts were warning us about,” Stinemetz said. “If you want to know
how it’s possible for someone like Donald Trump to rise this far in our party,
it’s because we have leaders like this.”

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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